


Insomnia

by Ash0605



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hugs, Light Angst, Like late 2nd year, My First Work in This Fandom, Perhaps some liberties taken with timescale, Set during 2nd Year, Sleepy Cuddles, sorry tags are hard, there are feelings, they are soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24560095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash0605/pseuds/Ash0605
Summary: Many things are keeping Emma Verde awake, such as feeling homesick through missing her family and her home country and the stresses of Japanese high school life. Her roommate on the bunk bed below her also counts as one of these reasons.
Relationships: Asaka Karin/Emma Verde
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	Insomnia

Emma couldn’t sleep, and she wasn’t entirely sure why. Her blue eyes probed the darkness of her dorm room, searching for answers. She held video calls with her parents and 8 younger siblings several times a week, but part of her longed to see them in person. The last time she had properly hugged any of them was more than a year ago on the day she moved to Japan, and that fully constructed thought was gut wrenching. She missed the magnificent mountains and verdant greenery of the Swedish countryside as well. There was a smell to Sweden that she couldn’t find in Japan. Or was it more accurately described as a feeling? It was difficult to explain, but she could feel a difference between the two countries. She missed Neve terribly too. It had been so long since she had goats milk, especially as it was deemed too difficult to have it sent to Japan from Switzerland. The rigour of Japanese high school life kept her mind occupied, but she couldn’t deny her homesickness either.

“Emma?”

Speaking of the rigours of high school life, perhaps school was getting to her. Final exams were approaching, and while a first year could argue that they weren’t a big deal, second years didn’t have the same luxury. Her activities with the Nijigasaki school idol club were also weighing on her, or to be more accurate, their lack of activity was. Emma, Kanata and Setsuna could all feel the distance growing between them, even if they didn’t mention it. Her love of school idols (even present back home) and her dream of becoming one made the idea of the group splitting apart unbearable.

“Emma, are you awake?”

Emma sighed internally. Her uncertainties rattled around inside her head, but she was certain the bluenette on the bunk bed beneath her was contributing to her insomnia at least somewhat.

“I’m awake Karin. What do you need?”. Karin didn’t say anything immediately, and Emma could sense the cogs whirring around inside her head.

“Where is Switzerland again?”

Emma had stopped reacting to Karin’s nonexistent geographical skills many months ago. These kinds of questions were common and never meant to wind her up. To put it politely, Karin wasn’t the smartest person she knew. She couldn’t ever forget the time Karin tried to microwave pasta without water, or her inability to manipulate numbers above 4 digits.

“Its close to the center of Europe, between France, Italy and Germany”. She almost immediately regretted phrasing it this way, as Karin could barely name where other countries in Europe were at the best of times.

“Oh! That makes sense, its close to Italy!” Karin whispered excitedly.

“What do you mean?”

“You were speaking some Italian to me earlier, so I got confused. I figured Switzerland was much further north than it actually was!”

Emma refrained from questioning Karin about where she thought Switzerland was before. Her mind was occupied to earlier events. When was she speaking Italian?

A conversation between the two a few hours earlier played in her mind. Was that the reason Karin was still awake?

“Hey, Emma. Did you mean what you said to me earlier? That I was beautiful?”

Emma gulped. It seemed she was right. She had said in passing earlier that Karin looked really good, and when Karin questioned what she meant, Emma…

Well, Emma took it quite seriously. She had pulled Karin in front of a mirror and pointed out everything that looked good on her. From her curves to her tall height and the three moles at the base of her neck, Emma left nothing out.

Karin didn’t carry herself with much confidence. She didn’t have many friends, nor did she take part in any clubs. It was apparent to Emma that her struggles with her studies really brought her down and worried her, even if she didn’t mention it directly. However, while Karin didn’t realize how good she looked, other students had noticed.

Emma had noticed too.

In hindsight, Emma thought she took it too far. That’s not to say that she did anything to make Karin feel unsafe, but perhaps rigorously pointing at every part of her body and calling it good, great, beautiful or any variation of these words in Italian was a bit much. Her actions seemed more influenced by her own insecurities instead of rational thought.

She couldn’t help it. Everything about Karin was just right. That’s all there was to it. Emma had always felt that everything about her was too big. She didn’t like her large frame. Her bust was honestly too big, giving her back ache and making dance practice way more difficult than it needed to be. Karin looked just like the school idols she looked up to.

Karin was beautiful, and she deserved to know that. She deserved to carry herself with more confidence. She-

“Emma? A-are you there?”

Emma snapped back to reality. She had left Karin hanging, and Karin seemed concerned.

“Sorry Karin! I think I’m just a bit tired.” This did nothing to change the atmosphere of the room, as Emma could sense Karin was hanging on her every word. “I genuinely meant it when I said you were beautiful. Everything about you is perfect...”. Her words trailed off before she could back herself up. Emma felt like she was pouring her heart out, and she felt utterly drained.

“Thank you. I’ve never thought about myself that way before. In fact, I’m not sure anyone has ever told me that before, aside from my parents.”. Karin spoke slowly and meticulously – she was picking her words carefully. “I was so shaken up at the time, I never properly thanked or reciprocated it to you.”

Emma started to feel a dreadful sense of guilt. She didn’t want Karin to feel indebted to her! She just wanted her to know what everyone else knew! What she knew!

“Don’t worry about that! It’s not something you have to reciprocate back to me.”

“I know, but I’ve been thinking about this for a few hours now. I know what I want to say.”

Panic flared up inside Emma. Whatever Karin was going to say, Emma was dreading it.

“I think you are beautiful too.” Karin spoke carefully and genuinely. Every cell in Emma’s body cried out in a cacophony of protest.

“Karin please don’t worry about that! You don’t have to worry about being polite!”. Emma spoke with a more desperate tone and a higher volume, both of which she immediately regretted. She didn’t want to be an inconvenience this late on a school night!

“Trust me Emma. I can prove it.”

Emma heard shuffling from the bed below her, though in the darkness of the dorm room and her own tiredness she couldn’t ascertain what it was. A bedside lamp was switched on below, illuminating the rest of her dorm room, including the school idol posters adorning the wall next to her bed.

Short wavy hair and clear eyes, both coloured a brilliant blue, entered Emma’s view, and she nearly jumped out of her skin in shock as Karin peeked over the railing of her bunk bed, reaching her full height.

“Come down here. I can prove it to you.” Karin's voice was encouraging and kind, without a hint of maliciousness or ill intent.

Emma slowly removed her duvet and started moving from her bunk, climbing down the ladder to reach the floor, attracted like a sailor to a siren. Karin had moved back from the bunk beds and was stood in the middle of the room, wearing a familiar pair of royal blue pyjamas.

Karin gave her a warm smile as Emma lowered herself down the ladder, moving sheepishly to stand opposite her.

“May I hug you? I can’t prove my point otherwise.”

“W-w-what?” Emma stammered, taken aback by Karin’s sudden request. While her body initially rose up in protest, this reluctance slowly ebbed away.

Emma raised her arms and nodded in approval.

Karin gave a vigorous nod in return. She didn’t rush into her arms immediately, but instead moved slowly as not to shock or overwhelm her, wrapping her arms around her. When Karin was in position, Emma also entwined her arms around her, leaving the two in a close embrace.

Emma’s mind fired into overdrive, thoughts ricocheting around her mind. Any hope Emma had of calming down was dashed when Karin tightened her embrace and nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

Emma couldn’t stop her mind running amok, but she also couldn’t deny that the hug felt nice. Karin’s embrace was heartfelt and affectionate, and it made Emma feel warm. The more Emma stayed, the less she wanted to leave.

The two stayed there for some time enjoying each other’s embrace. After an uncountable amount of time, Karin spoke.

“You feel so warm, approachable and motherly. Whenever anybody needs anything at school, they go to you. You’re always there for me too. You are one of the strongest and most dependable people I know, and I think that’s beautiful in its own way.”

Emma was puzzled. Other types of beauty? She cast her thoughts to the models she saw at home and the school idols pictured on her wall.

She looked at Karin, standing opposite her.

There was only the beauty she had always known throughout her life, and the understanding that she wasn’t that. Surely there wasn’t anything else?

“Are you sure? How do you know?” Emma questioned. A sense of desperation had returned to her voice with her realising it.

“I’m not really sure, I just know. There has to be many types of beauty, as there are many types of people in the world. Its just like you told me; everyone deserves to know they are beautiful.” Karin spoke sincerely. There was a comforting and persuasive element to her voice, making it easy to take it at her word despite her lack of hard evidence.

Emma felt her eyes widen as she looked around the room. Her eyes rested on the school idol posters, but her mind kept going. There were lots of different types of school idols, right? Emma’s dependability, Kanata’s sleepy demeanour and Setsuna’s passion. The differences between the members of the Nijigasaki school idol club were clear, yet all of them had just as much right to perform on stage.

Just as there were many types of school idols, there were just as many types of people, all deserving to know they were beautiful in their own ways.

A wonderful, warm feeling surged inside Emma. Everything Karin suggested made sense and felt so right.

But there was one last thing that Emma needed to know.

“Hold on, what did the hug have to do with it?”

Karin’s smile widened.

“Absolutely nothing. You just seemed like you needed one.”

As sappy as it sounded, Karin was right. Emma tried to remember the last time she had a good hug.

Emma started to well up. The last time she had a good hug was the one she had with her family before she moved to Japan. That was more than a year ago.

The same careful restraint that Karin had going into the previous hug was abandoned as Emma rushed into Karin's arms, cuddling her tightly. Karin moved into the hug, thankfully not fazed by Emma’s quick movement. Emma laid her head in the crook of Karin’s neck, obscuring her face and the tears that fell from her eyes.

The two stood there for an immeasurable amount of time, silently enjoying each other’s company. Emma hoped the hug could illustrate the immense gratitude she felt towards Karin, as well as reciprocate the warmth and kindness Karin had shown her. She didn’t cry for much longer, how could she when such embraces felt like bliss?

Eventually the pair realised that the coming day was a school day, and that they had to go to sleep. Leaving Karin’s embrace was sad, but Karin herself wasn’t leaving. Karin would always be there for her, just as Emma would always be there for Karin.

Karin waited until Emma was safely in her bunk bed and under her duvet. She was still peeking over the railing of the bunk bed, her face illuminated by the glow of the lamp below. She looked beautiful, and Emma wished that the light didn’t have to go out.

After making sure Emma was safely in her bunk, Karin shuffled back into her own bunk, switching the light off when she was settled. The room was covered in darkness once again, at least until the morning.

“Thank you, Karin. I think I really needed that”

“It’s always a pleasure. I hope you have a good night.”

“You too! Goodnight.”

Feeling content, Emma slowly drifted off, having the best night’s sleep she had in months.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been ongoing for about 3 weeks because I suck at doing anything. A lot of this fic sprung from the fact that Karin and Emma are dorm mates. I think I read somewhere that Karin wasn't particularly confident with herself before the events of All Stars, but I couldn't tell you where I got it from. I apologise if I portrayed anyone out of character as a result. 
> 
> Thank you so much for taking the time to read! This is not only my first work in this fandom, but my first fanfiction work of any kind. I don't have that much experience writing these stories, so I appreciate any and all feedback.
> 
> I hope you have a good day, and I wish you the best in staying safe!


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